In 1958, the Livock family of five packed everything they owned in two trunks and left England, bound for the United States of America. Their destination – a tiny burg in Southwestern Michigan – Gobles. Now, 58 years later, Carol (Livock) Johnson is the Mayor of Gobles, with roots firmly planted here.

Carol’s father, Mick Livock, was a World War II veteran who was captured at Dunkirk. He spent seven years as a prisoner of war (POW). That’s where the seed to move to America was planted. Livock became close with another POW, an American pilot. After the war, the American pilot moved to Gobles. The Livocks, including the family dog, soon followed.

Mick Livock became a maintenance man and a bus driver at the school, eventually retiring from Gobles. Carol, along with her twin sister, Susan, and her brother, Ian, entered Gobles Public Schools in 1960. Carol met her future husband, Dick Johnson, who graduated in 1965 and soon left for Vietnam. Carol graduated in 1967, and when Dick returned that year, they married in December. Dick worked at General Motors until he retired. Retirement didn’t sit well with him, Carol said, so he started working at the school in the maintenance department, where’s he been for the last 10 years. Next year, the couple will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Carol’s sister and brother-in-law, Susan and Doug Osmun, married the same year, and still call Gobles home. Their brother Ian, is still in town as well. There’s no place their extended family would rather be, Carol said. “We were born English, but we became Americans by choice. We chose Gobles.”

When Carol’s dad passed away 10 years ago, “we didn’t have family here,” Carol said. “We didn’t have cousins or aunts or uncles. But the school and community embraced us. We had our Gobles family,” she said.

In addition to raising her family here and volunteering at school and in the community, Carol joined the city commission 10 years ago. Her dad and her brother both served on the commission. Carol didn’t think she was commission material, but when the city went through a recall, she knew she wanted to help. Her friend and city clerk Paula Sipes encouraged her to fill a seat. After a year as a commissioner, Carol served as Mayor for two years. After a short break, she came back as a commissioner for three years, and has been Mayor for the last four.

She is proud of the relationship between the city and the school. “I don’t think one could operate without the other,” she said. “The connection is getting closer and that’s good. (Superintendent) Jeff (Rehlander) comes to meetings and lets us know what’s going on. We talk about things happening in town so he knows. If we weren’t working together, the city would suffer,” Carol said.

In addition to serving as the Mayor of Gobles, Carol and her sister Susan have run the concession stand for the school district for 10 years. They do the marketing, ordering, cooking, and cleaning, she said. “It’s a lot of hard work,” she said.

Still known as the Livock twins, she and Susan take on just about anything that is tossed their way. When athletic director Chris Miller calls, Carol said, “I pick up the phone and say, ‘What do you want, Miller?’ He knows I won’t say no,” she said.

For Carol and her extended family, it’s a labor of love. Her daughter, Loriann Harbaugh, graduated from Gobles and is a teacher here. She works the concession stand, too. The grandchildren have all pitched in, and Carol calls on other friends to lend a hand sometimes, too. ​“These people mean everything to me,” she said. “I’m very dedicated to them and they are very loyal to me. I love walking down the hallway at school and hearing the kids say, ‘Hi, Mrs. Johnson.’ It keeps me going. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

Mrs. Quist and her third-graders love to research different topics during Genius Hour.

In Mrs. Chris Quist’s third-grade classroom, students talk quietly in pairs, pour over books and type notes into shared Google documents. It’s Genius Hour, and they get to spend their time researching a topic that they choose.

“It’s an opportunity for students to be responsible for their own learning,” Quist said. And she’s already seeing benefits from that self-directed learning in her classroom. “They are engaged. They ask questions, they help each other,” she said.

Genius Hour is an idea currently used by media mogul Google. The company allows its employees to spend one hour a week mastering new skills or working on any project they choose. The idea in education is similar. The teacher provides a set amount of time for students to work on something they are passionate about it. They do research, and then must create some kind of presentation or end-product to share with the class.

“It allows them to think outside the traditional structure of school,” Quist said. It is the kind of creative thinking and problem solving she thinks teachers will be moving toward more and more in the future.

The Genius Hour was brought to Gobles by Mr. Scott Seiler, another third-grade teacher, Quist said. He heard about the project at his first Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) conference last year. Seiler implemented Genius Hour last year and was thrilled with the results. “Students showed very high levels of motivation,” he said. When students hit a roadblock, they would figure out how to get what they needed. They tackled new technology and worked together, he said.

“Genius Hour gets students to problem solve with known and unknown tools,” Seiler said. “I learned some Google features, too!”

As the entire third grade begins deploying Genius Hour this year, Quist is thankful for the atmosphere of teamwork at the elementary school. Genius Hour is just one example of how teachers work together to bring innovative and exciting initiatives to Gobles. ​“We have an incredible staff that really works hard to make sure each kid learns,” she said. “I’m thankful for a staff that’s so dedicated to students. Teamwork is crucial and we have it here in Gobles.”

​Katy (Massey) Rich, Gobles High School Class of 2007, loves tigers – the ones that come from Gobles, as well as the ones she takes care of! Rich turned her passion for animals into a dream career. After high school, she moved to southern California where she attended America’s Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College. In 2009, she graduated with an associate’s degree in exotic animal training and management. She now lives in Pensacola, Florida, and works as an animal curator at Gulf Breeze Zoo.

But her love for animals started long before she left Gobles. Rich was on the path toward her dream career by the time she was eight years old. She started training her first dog, Max, for 4-H. “It was through the (4-H) dog obedience program that I was able to land my first studio work on Animal Planet while I was still in high school,” Rich said. In 2003, she and her Border Collie Shelly competed on Pet Star, an Animal Planet game show, along with fellow Gobles student Kelli Howard and her dog Shadow. In 2006, Rich was the World Canine Freestyle junior champion.

It was clear that she had a talent for training animals. During her senior year, Rich decided she wanted to attend the America’s Teaching Zoo to continue her education in exotic animal training and conservation. She worked with the staff and administration at Gobles to complete the four classes she needed in order to apply, said her mom, Denise Noble. Only 50 applicants a year are selected for the very competitive program, and Rich was at school the day she received the call. “It was a community thing. Her teachers wanted to know as much as she did,” Noble said.When Rich moved to California for college, she continued to pick up small studio jobs with Shelly. She worked as a commentator for an Animal Planet special, Dancing with Dogs. She and Shelly were also guests on MTV’s Rob and Big Show. Soon, she began working with large carnivores for documentaries and movies. For a time, she worked at the Mirage Secret Garden and the MGM Grand Lion Habitat in Las Vegas. She also worked at Raptor Rescue in Montana, and Tiger World in North Carolina.In Rich’s work at the Gulf Breeze Zoo today, she helps oversee the care of more than 800 animals. “I work with a diverse collection of wild animals, many of which are highly endangered,” she said. In her daily responsibilities, Rich calculates animal medications, develops breeding programs for rare or endangered species, formulates nutritional diets, engages guests, and oversees staff training.

“Every day, I get a chance to make a difference!” said Rich. “Growing up in Gobles, I learned the value of natural resources and the importance of a supportive community. Each and every class, from English, history, and math, to Spanish and yearbook, helped prepare me in some way for my current career,” she said.“The past 10 years have been a wild ride,” she said. “I’ve found myself in Africa overseeing importing lions, exploring the jungles of South America, escorting cubs on private jets, acting as a stunt double on studio sets, and bottle raising endangered species. Although there are some really adventurous moments, there was a lot of hard work and late nights that got me here!My story wouldn't have been possible without the support I got growing up in Gobles,” she said. “The staff always encouraged students to be confident and believed in us so that we could believe in ourselves!”

Three foreign exchange students joined the Gobles High School senior class last week. Shan Huang from China, Sophie Sykora from Austria, and Eirik Eggemoen from Norway will spend the rest of the school year here.

Huang, 16, is hoping to learn more about the American sports of soccer and softball. She’s also hoping this experience will help her learn more about the United States while learning to do more on her own. “I want to be more independent and learn how to do things by myself,” she said. Huang is staying with Deb Peterson’s family.

Sykora, also 16, is staying with Pam Westcott’s family. She hopes to experience the American way of life, including volleyball and cheerleading. So far, the hardest part of being a Gobles senior has been taking classes and speaking in English all the time.

Eggemoen, 17, wanted to live here after a recent U.S. vacation. He hopes this experience will help him to become fluent in English. He is also playing football. He’s staying with Ann Jacus and her family, and plans to become a police officer or join the military after high school. ​“Having foreign exchange students attend Gobles High School allows our students to see a world beyond the borders of our town,” said Middle/High School Principal Phil McAndrew. “They get to learn about other cultures, customs, and begin to see people from all cultures as people who are not that different from us.”

Teachers and school staff members are the faces you see every day at Gobles Public Schools. They are part of a larger team of others, including dedicated volunteers, local business owners and willing parents, who work together for the sake of our students.

Terry Doyle, Gobles Public Schools Board of Education President, is one of those faces in the crowd. He’s chosen to support the district and its students by serving on the Board of Education since 2004. He has been President since 2015.

The Gobles Public Schools Board of Education is made up of seven community members and is charged with making decisions that are in the best interest of the district and its students.

“I wanted to be involved in the process,” Doyle said. “As a stakeholder in the community and the school, I wanted to have a vote toward the issues and topics that matter.”

Doyle wanted to be involved in the community that he and his family have called home since 1995. He and his wife, Deb, moved to Gobles from Chicago and have savored small-town living at its best here. “What I enjoy most is being part of a group of people who care for their community as much as I do. That is fulfilling,” he said.

In addition to serving on the Board of Education, Doyle is a proud Gobles parent and former coach. He has coached baseball, football, softball, basketball, and soccer. The Doyles have six children: Rachel, Madeleine, Quinn, Collin, Ellen and Joe. They also have one granddaughter, Vivian.

He is extremely proud of the education provided to the students who attend Gobles Public Schools. “From graduating classes of 60-90 students we have produced engineers, doctors, teachers, musicians, lawyers, Air Force and Naval Academy graduates, pastors, and soldiers,” Doyle said. “We produce solid citizens that we can be proud of.”

Doyle’s willingness to serve stems from his passion for the people of his community.

“I have come to know a variety of people through various volunteering, coaching, and church activities,” he said. “It is the people that I consider friends, neighbors, and teammates who keep me inspired and passionate about this community and our school district.”

Doyle is one of the district’s many ambassadors. He loves how the district is growing with an eye on excellence, he said. “I am excited about the leadership role our small rural district has taken in technology, safety and STEM. Our administration is aggressively moving our district in a direction with our curriculum that is preparing students for the job markets of the future; not just teaching basic skills, but being focused on producing successful and productive citizens of the future,” Doyle said.

That is the mindset that makes Gobles Public Schools different, and why Doyle serves on the Board of Education. He sees the potential in each Gobles students, and believes the district is doing everything possible to help students achieve excellence. ​“What I love about Gobles is that if you have the want and the willingness, you can get it done here,” he said.

Gobles Public Schools welcomes communications specialist Carolann Hall. She is part of a team from Kalamazoo RESA and will be supporting GPS in their communications efforts. Originally from the Ann Arbor area, Hall recently returned to Michigan from Fayettville, North Carolina, where her husband, Matthew, was stationed with the Army. She graduated from Methodist University with a degree in mass communications.

"I am thrilled for the opportunity to contribute to the continued success of Team Gobles. I look forward to the many opportunities to share the Gobles story and its many accomplishments, " said Carolann.

With a new focus on increasing and improving communications, Hall will be working on the district website, sharing news stories, and strengthening the district’s social media presence.